Did Macron say that Africa still needs France in order to 'thrive'?

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Did Macron say that Africa still needs France in order to 'thrive'?  A false statement attributed to the French President has been circulating on social media.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/06/06/did-macron-say-that-africa-still-needs-france-in-order-to-thrive  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Did Macron say that Africa still needs France to thrive?

00:08French President Emmanuel Macron allegedly stated that African countries are unable to thrive without French involvement,

00:16according to posts circulating on social media.

00:18For instance, this post on X has been viewed almost 700,000 times

00:22and alleges that France's outright withdrawal from Africa could halt progress on the continent.

00:27So let's do some checking.

00:29Euroverify conducted a reverse image search and found that the shared photo is a press shot

00:34from a speech Macron gave at a European summit in Brussels in March 2025.

00:41However, an analysis of Macron's speech, as well as a further sweep of news reports and official statements

00:46made by the French president, did not yield evidence for the quote attributed to him.

00:51Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told Euroverify that the statement was false.

00:55A number of the social media accounts which have attributed the quotes to Macron have also shared pro-Russian propaganda

01:01and support the alliance of the Saal states.

01:04The alliance is made off of Mali, Niger, Amdur-Tinafaso, three countries ruled by military regimes which came to power following coups.

01:11Russia was the first country to recognize the alliance.

01:14Although this particular statement may not be true, prior statements made by Macron have sparked a backlash from African leaders.

01:19For instance, in January, leaders in Chad and Senegal accused Macron of showing contempt

01:24after he declared that African leaders had forgotten to thank France for helping to combat Islamist militants in the Sahel region.

01:32Since 2022, France has been progressively withdrawing its troops from West Africa

01:37due to opposition against French military presence in the region.

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